The field of the invention generally relates to a method and system for controlling the operation of a peripheral device in a network.
In the personal computer environment, a peripheral device, such as a scanner or printer, is connected to a personal computer (“PC”) located near the peripheral device via a parallel or USB port of that computer. When the peripheral device is connected to the PC, it is automatically recognized by the Microsoft Windows operating system (by plug-and-play) on the PC and the appropriate driver(s) is installed to enable a user to operate the peripheral device. In the circumstance in which the peripheral device is not recognized or unable to operate without special software, additional software may be necessary. The software is usually provided by the manufacturer along with the peripheral device at no additional charge.
In operation of a scanner for example, a user will manually load the desired paper into the scanner, and the user would return to the personal computer to call-up the appropriate scanner software and initiate a scan. The length of time for the entire operation from loading to scanning is minimal, primarily because of the distance between the peripheral device and personal computer is quite small. However, in a network environment in which possibly several hundred peripheral devices are located a great distance from a client site, time and hence aggravation become a factor. However, at present there is no simple way to improve the situation.